


Goodbye, Hello

by FluffyHyo



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff and Angst, High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23857858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyHyo/pseuds/FluffyHyo
Summary: Yoo Jeongyeon thought that making friends at her new school was unnecessary, until she met Park Jihyo.
Relationships: Park Jisoo | Jihyo/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37
Collections: Jihyo Ship Writing Challenge





	Goodbye, Hello

Jeongyeon carefully lined up her clothes in her suitcase, making sure that everything fits perfectly. She would occasionally stop and stare into a blank space, thinking of the list of things she’ll need to bring along with her. 

“Uh, what else?” Jeongyeon peered inside her suitcase, looking for something missing. When it came to packing, she always had a hard time deciding what to bring along with her. That’s why she never really enjoyed packing.

Thinking that most of the important things were already packed in her suitcase, she threw herself on her bed. Being fully relaxed, she slowly turned her body facing a small table next to her bed. On top of the small table was a cute frame with a photo of two girls wearing high school uniforms. 

“How I’ve missed you.” she murmured to herself, while hugging her body pillow tightly. 

***

6 years ago…

Today Jeongyeon was yet again introduced as a new student after transferring because of her dad’s job. At this point, she’s lost count of how many times she’s transferred to other schools. Not that it really matters to her anymore. 

“Hello, my name is Yoo Jeongyeon. Nice to meet you.” She gave a short introduction in front of the class. It was her template greeting whenever she transferred to a new school. In the beginning, she used to be more excited so she had longer introductions with more details about her, but as time went by, she felt there was no need to. 

After all, she was just passing by. She’ll inevitably transfer again to another school after half a year whether she liked it or not. 

“You can take your seat over there,” the teacher pointed at an empty seat available at the very back of the class next to the window. Jeongyeon just nodded and went straight to her seat without paying attention to the students she passed by. 

After she settled in, the class resumed as usual.

Days after she transferred, things remained the same for Jeongyeon. She was still pretty much alone all the time. It was as if she was invisible to the rest of her classmates. But it wasn’t like Jeongyeon minded at all. She was actually relieved that the other students left her alone. From her past experiences, there was no use trying to make friends. At the end, they would all forget about her once she moves to another school. 

There were times in the past where Jeongyeon tried to contact her friends from her previous school, only to realize that they didn’t even save her number. At first, she didn’t think too much of it but then she noticed that she was the only one taking the initiative to talk. Slowly, she got fed up and decided that they weren’t interested in talking to her in the first place. 

They weren’t people whom she could call friends. 

But things started to get worse as the days went by. Being ignored by the rest of the class was one thing, but having false rumors about you spreading across school was another. It seemed like a couple of students that didn’t like her started spreading false rumors about her being a delinquent -- the reason why she’s constantly changing schools and also the reason why she’s a loner. 

Students stared at her with disgusted eyes whenever she passed through the hallways and started talking behind her back, often times intentionally loud enough for her to hear, adding more to the rumors initially made.

“I heard that she had an affair with a teacher in her previous school.”

“Really? That’s awful!”

“Not only that, I heard that she’s pretty violent too, so don’t go near her.”

“Didn’t she also sell herself to her classmates?”

Those conversations were the usual conversations Jeongyeon would hear whenever she would pass a group of students. It was ridiculous because some of the rumors were just outright outrageous, but unlike usual, she couldn’t laugh at it. She was deeply hurt. 

“What did I ever do to deserve this?”

One day, Jeongyeon decided to eat lunch outside alone. She just wanted to escape the choking atmosphere in her class and the whole school. Besides the weather was nice, so it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.

She sat on an empty bench at one of the school’s garden. There weren’t many people passing by because it was located behind the school and although it was technically a garden, there were no flowers. It was an abandoned garden that no longer served its purpose.

As she was about to take a bite from her homemade lunch, she felt that there was a shadow cast upon her. When she looked up, there was a girl standing right in front of her. She was short – the kind of short that would make you want to keep her in your pockets – with clear skin, shoulder length hair, and a cute yet pretty face. It was hard to believe that the girl in front of her wasn’t wearing any makeup, but school regulations regarding the use of makeup are really strict so it had to be her bare face. From her uniform badge, Jeongyeon could tell that she was an underclassman. 

“Why are you eating here alone?” the girl asked, innocently. But Jeongyeon didn’t respond. Instead she continued eating her lunch, ignoring the presence of the girl standing in front of her.

Being ignored, the girl didn’t give up. She sat right next to Jeongyeon as if it was the most natural thing you would do if someone ignored you.  
“I’m Park Jihyo from class 1-A. You can call me Jihyo. How about you?”

After swallowing the food she was chewing, she let out a sigh. She was bad dealing with these type of people. Since she didn’t have any other choice, she decided to amuse her a bit, thinking that she’ll leave eventually. “Jeongyeon. Class 2-B.” she answered briefly.

The girl was silent for a moment, as if she was thinking about something. 

“Jeongyeon sunbae, how old are you?” 

“Sixteen.” Jeongyeon answered coldly. She had no idea why the girl called Jihyo asked about her age. Jeongyeon finally thought that it was probably because she was out of questions to ask. She did seem like she was thinking hard before she asked the question. 

Upon hearing her answer, Jihyo’s eyes lit up. “Oh, so we’re the same age? We should be friends!” she said cheerfully.

“Huh?” Jeongyeon was at a loss for words. Why does she want to be friends with me? No, why is she even talking to me in first place? Those thoughts surfaced in Jeongyeon’s mind. 

“Why do you want to be my friend? Haven’t you heard about the rumors?” Jeongyeon asked, putting aside her half eaten lunch.

“Are they true?”

“No… they aren’t true. But––“

“––That means there shouldn’t be any problems. Right?” Jihyo quickly cut in before Jeongyeon could finish her sentence. Although she didn’t look like the aggressive type, Jihyo was still pretty assertive.

“I… still don’t understand.” In any case it was weird that someone approached her in the first place, let alone want to be friends with her.

“I just thought you’re an amazing person. That’s why I wanted to be friends with you.” Jihyo said confidently. She continued, “No matter how many times people talked behind your back, you never fought back even when you could. But because of that, the rumors keep on spreading and you end up all alone like this.”

There was a short silence between them. 

“It doesn’t really matter.” Jeongyeon finally said, hinting a bit of desperation.

“Of course it does! From now on you won’t be alone. You’ll have me.” Jihyo proclaimed brightly. It was an embarrassing thing to say, but she still went on to say those words anyway. It was because she wanted to convey her feelings as clearly as possible to the lonely girl sitting next to her. 

Hearing those words, Jeongyeon gave a passive aggressive answer. “Suit yourself.”

Despite her cold answer, her answer was enough for Jihyo. “Anyway, how should I call you? We’re the same age, but you’re still a senior, so should I stick with Jeongyeon sunbae? Or maybe Jeongyeon unnie?”

“Jeongyeon is fine. We’re the same age after all.”

“Okay then, Jeongyeon. Nice to be your friend!”

Jeongyeon only nodded shyly, not knowing what to say. It’s not like she was new to making friends since she did make ‘friends’ in her previous schools, but she never had someone befriend her like this. 

“But it sure is a shame that there’s no flowers in the garden.” Jihyo randomly commented.

“I heard nobody really comes here, so I guess planting flowers here would be useless.”

“It’s kind of sad and lonely though.”

Jeongyeon didn’t answer. Instead she continued eating her lunch that was half finished. 

Not long after that, the school bells indicating lunch time was over rang. With that the new friends, Jihyo and Jeongyeon, parted ways to their own classes with a warm goodbye.

\---

After her encounter with Jihyo the other day, Jeongyeon kept on meeting her every lunch time. Though both of them never made any explicit promise to see each other, they somehow both understood that the best time for them to talk to each other was during lunch time. Jeongyeon who seemed indifferent about being friends with Jihyo actually looked forward to lunch time. It wasn’t a surprise since it was the only time she would be freed from the suffocating school atmosphere with rumors about her going around.  
Jeongyeon still acted coldly towards Jihyo during lunch. But despite her cold attitude, she still listened to everything Jihyo says while occasionally nodding or answering to let the other girl know that she was paying attention.

Outside from meeting up during lunch, Jeongyeon secretly paid close attention to her new friend, realizing that Jihyo was quite popular at school. In fact, popular might still be an understatement. She was loved almost by the whole school because of her warm personality, of course, leaving out the minority of one or two students that loathe her because of envy. 

One time at lunch, Jeongyeon finally decided to be more proactive during their conversation. She asked something to Jihyo after only being a listener all these times. It was proof that she was slowly warming up to her new friend, Jihyo, and wanting to know more about her. 

“You’ve been hanging a lot with me during lunch. Don’t you have any friends?”

“Of course I do.” Jihyo answered as if it was a given, while munching on her bread. 

“Then why aren’t you hanging out with them?” 

“Aren’t you my friend? I’m hanging out with you right now.”

The way Jihyo was trying to avoid her question made Jeongyeon suspicious that something was going on, but she decided not to pry even further. She felt that it wasn’t her place to intervene.

After a while, their relationship became even closer than before. From only meeting up during lunch breaks, to hanging out casually at school, and walking home together after school. Of course, the whole school was shocked to find out this truth. It was because the most loved person at school was hanging out with the delinquent transfer student. 

It was after school and Jihyo was waiting in front of the school gates for Jeongyeon. She could have waited inside, but Jeongyeon insisted that they meet outside. It didn’t really matter to Jihyo, as long as they could go home together. 

While she was waiting a group of students approached Jihyo.

“Jihyo, why are you hanging out with that delinquent?”

“Who are you talking about?” Jihyo was genuinely confused by the sudden question aimed at her. There was no recollection in her memory of interacting with someone like that. Not even once. 

“We mean the sunbae from class 2-B. What was her name again?”

“Yoo Jeongyeon.” One of the girl’s from the group answered.

“Ah right, the delinquent Yoo Jeongyeon.”

“What do you mean delinquent?” Jihyo gave a menacing gaze at the group of girls and boys that were crowding her, making them cower in fear. Throughout her school life, Jihyo was never seen angry and so this new side of Jihyo completely terrified them.

“But the rumors said––“ one of them tried to speak up, but it was futile.

“––And it’s not true. She’s not a delinquent, she’s my dear friend. If you have a problem with that please don’t talk to me.” As Jihyo said those words, the person in question appeared before them. It was Jeongyeon. “Now if you’ll excuse us.” Jihyo immediately grabbed Jeongyeon’s arm and left the group of girls speechless. Apparently there were many students that witnessed what just happened from afar. It looked like they started thinking for themselves, ‘Are the rumors about Yoo Jeongyeon really true?’

\---

On their way home they walked in silence. Usually Jeongyeon wouldn’t mind because that’s what she would normally prefer but today wasn’t like any other day. After seeing what happened in front of the gates, she couldn’t help but feel guilty for dragging her only friend into her own mess.

Not being able to stand the silence, she finally uttered some words. 

“Sorry…” She said in a soft voice. 

“What for?” Jihyo instantly replied.

“Sorry for dragging you into my mess…”

“You don’t need to apologize. Besides, you are my friend.”

“But wouldn’t it damage your reputation?”

“I don’t care.” Jihyo answered nonchalantly. “Thing like reputation, do they even matter?”

Jeongyeon fell silent to Jihyo’s question.

“But what if they hate you too?” Jeongyeon couldn’t help but imagine the worst case scenario of what would happen because of her association with Jihyo.

“It doesn’t matter, as long as I have you.” Jihyo answered clearly without any hesitation. She was the kind of girl that knew exactly what was important to her. And to her, Jeongyeon was irreplaceable. 

Hearing Jihyo’s words, Jeongyeon suddenly stopped her steps.

Noticing that her friend stopped, she looked behind her and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing…” 

“Okay then,” she said. “I guess I’m heading this way. See you tomorrow at school Jeongyeon!” Jihyo waved goodbye as they parted at a crossroad. Jeongyeon waved back with a smile. She never knew that she’d find someone like Jihyo. Things were still bad, but she didn’t mind it as much as before now that she had Jihyo by her side.

“I guess school isn’t so bad after all,” Jeongyeon muttered to herself as she continued her walk home. 

\---

The next day, Jeongyeon felt something different when she arrived at school. Usually students would avoid and stare at her when she walks through the school hallways but today there were no longer stares or whispers behind her back. Of course it was convenient for her but at the same time she wondered what was happening.

Jeongyeon was sharp enough to realize that her new treatment was probably because of the strong words Jihyo said yesterday. After all, the words of someone who held a high status at school would usually have a heavier weight to it. 

As soon as she sat down on her seat, a couple of girls from her class approached her.

“I’m sorry for misunderstanding you, Jeongyeon.” One girl said while bowing her head. The other girls followed suit, bowing their heads too. Being caught off guard by the sudden apology from her classmates, she quickly told them to raise their heads.

“I-It’s fine. Misunderstandings happen all the time.” Jeongyeon tried to answer as coolly as possible. She could have lashed out and expressed how hard it has been for her because of the cruel treatment from the entire school over a false rumor but she decided not to. 

Before she knew it, Yoo Jeongyeon who was alienated since day one at school was finally accepted and treated like a normal classmate for the first time. It was an odd feeling. She was so used to being alone and being treated unfairly that she felt like this was just a dream. But it wasn’t. It was reality. And the one who made that dream a reality was her friend, Jihyo.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, she quickly made her way down to the garden to meet up with Jihyo. She couldn’t wait to tell her everything that happened but as soon as she got there, there was nobody. Usually Jihyo would always be the one arriving first no matter what so it was odd to see the empty bench.

‘She must have something to do’ thought Jeongyeon, so she sat there alone on the bench while eating her lunch while waiting for her friend to arrive.  
Until the end of the lunch break, she didn’t come. 

\---

“This should be her home right?” she looked at the address on the paper she was holding and then looked at the house in front of her. There was no mistaking that this was Jihyo’s house. It was the first time Jeongyeon ever visited a friend’s house alone, so she was a bit nervous.

Earlier today before she returned to her class after lunch, she made a detour to Jihyo’s class in hopes to catch her there. Having the rumors cleared up helped her a lot in asking where Jihyo was. According to one of her classmates, Jihyo usually takes a couple of days off from school every few months but since Jihyo told them not to worry about it, nobody knew why. 

Right after school ended, she went straight to the teacher’s lounge to ask about Jihyo’s address. Despite usually going home together, she has never really went to Jihyo’s house. At first, her homeroom teacher was a bit hesitant to give Jeongyeon her student’s address. Maybe because she was also somewhat aware of the rumors going on at school and has yet to know the truth. But after Jeongyeon convinced and half begged her, she finally gave Jeongyeon her address. 

It took quite some effort to get here, but here she is now. After mentally preparing herself, she carefully pressed the bell. 

Ting tung ting tung.

After a while the door slowly opened. A middle aged women appeared before the door and greeted Jeongyeon with a warm smile. She invited Jeongyeon inside without wasting a second. 

As Jeongyeon sat on the sofa in their living room, she scanned the house to see if Jihyo was there but there was only one girl drawing on the floor which seemed to be her little sister. Jihyo’s mom came back holding a tray with two cups of tea.

“So you’re Jeongyeon,” Jihyo’s mom opened the conversation while placing the cups on the table. It was a surprise to Jeongyeon that she knew her name. Noticing her confusion, her mom added. “Jihyo talks a lot about you at home. She always tells me what a good friend you are. I think you’re the only friend she ever talks about at home.”  
Hearing her mom’s words, she couldn’t believe it. 

I’m the only one? But doesn’t everyone love her?

“Is there something wrong Jeongyeon-ssi?” her mom asked, wondering why her guest was silent.

“Ah, no. It’s just that I don’t see Jihyo anywhere. Where is she?” Jeongyeon asked straight to the matter, trying to avert her attention. Jihyo’s mom didn’t directly answer.  
She took a sip of tea before finally answering. “She’s in the hospital right now.” Her mom proceeds to tell Jeongyeon everything about Jihyo’s condition. Jeongyeon just listened to Jihyo’s mom while occasionally taking a sip of tea. Her heart sank hearing things she never expected to hear during her first visit to her friend’s house. 

After their conversation ended, Jeongyeon excused herself and went home. There were many things in Jeongyeon’s head right now, but there was one thing that she was sure of and it was that she was going to see her tomorrow.

\---

After school Jeongyeon didn’t waste any time to leave for the hospital. Even though Jihyo’s mom told her that she was doing fine at the hospital, Jeongyeon couldn’t help but think how lonely it must have been for her to be alone in the hospital with her mom staying at home to take care of her little sister and her dad working overseas. 

Before she went to the hospital, she made a quick stop at one particular donut shop that she remembered Jihyo mentioning. Since Jihyo talks all the time during lunch, there were things like her favorite snacks and foods mentioned, even though Jeongyeon was sure Jihyo only brought it up to have something to talk about. 

Looking back to how cold she was acting towards someone that cared so much for her in the beginning, she felt sick to the stomach. Although they are close friends now, she still felt a bit of regret.

Done with her purchase, she went straight to the hospital. It was a bit far from her neighborhood, but it didn’t take that much time either to get there. With the donuts she just bought and the information about Jihyo’s room number she got from her mom yesterday, she confidently walked inside of the hospital. 

As soon as she arrived at Jihyo’s room, she strengthened her resolve to make her friend smile at all costs. She knocked on the door and carefully opened it. When she entered the room, Jihyo was sitting on her bed doing what it seems like wiping her sweat off her body.

Seeing Jeongyeon enter the room, she was surprised. “Jeongyeon? Why are you here?”

“I was just passing by.” 

It was obviously a lie. Not waiting for Jihyo’s permission, she walked inside after closing the door behind her and sat on the chair next to Jihyo’s bed. After she sat down, she pulled out a box of donuts she kept in her bag. 

“Woah, are those donuts for me?” Jihyo asked in excitement. It was her favorite donuts, so of course she couldn’t help but have a taste of them.

“Of course not, it’s for me.” Jeongyeon teasingly answered.

“You’ll get fat if you eat that many on your own.”

“I’m not you Jihyo.”

“That’s pretty mean.”

Jeongyeon laughed seeing Jihyo’s pouty face and finally gave up. “Here I bought this for you. You can pay me back later.”

“Yah, I really have to pay you back!?”

“Jihyo, there’s nothing free in this world.” Jeongyeon calmly answered. She loved teasing her friend like this. It was an interaction only possible because they knew each other closely. Jeongyeon opened the box of donuts and offered them to Jihyo. 

As Jihyo took a donut from the box, Jeongyeon grabbed the wet cloth Jihyo put down. “Give it to me.” 

Without any hesitation, she lifted the back of Jihyo’s shirt and wiped her back for her.

“Wh-what are you doing?” asked Jihyo nervously. She was totally off guard by Jeongyeon’s bold actions. 

“Are you embarrassed?” Jeongyeon asked with a grin on her face.

“Of course not. We’re both girls anyway.” She said looking away from Jeongyeon, trying to hide her blushing face. “I could’ve done it on my own.” Jihyo quietly muttered.

“When is your surgery?” 

“So mom told you, huh?”

Jeongyeon just nodded. 

“It’s next Monday. I finally got a donor so I should be happy, but I guess I’m still worried about it. After all, the doctors said that it was a 50-50 percent chance of success. Ah, but don’t worry about it. I trust the doctors!” Jihyo answered, trying to sound cheerful. But Jeongyeon knew that she was only masking it.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone about this?”

She had a sad smile on her face. “The truth is I don’t really have any close friends other than you Jeongyeon. Everyone loves me, but they always see me as someone different from them. They don’t treat me like a normal girl. And it’s kind of exhausting.” She confessed. “But when I talked to you, you treated me just like any other girl and that’s why… you’re my very first dear friend.”

It finally made sense why she avoided her question and why her mom said she was the only person Jihyo ever talked about.  
“You’re my very first friend too Jihyo. A dear friend.”

The atmosphere in the room was warm and fuzzy. They continued to talk about various things, occasionally laughing together over some silly stories. Jeongyeon also didn’t forget to tell Jihyo about the change of treatment she’s received.

After hours of spending time together, Jeongyeon finally went home and promised to drop by again tomorrow. 

\---

Every day after school, Jeongyeon’s new routine was to go to the hospital and visit Jihyo. At first Jihyo felt a bit bad for having her come every day, especially because the distance from the school and hospital was quite far and Jeongyeon would always go home really late. But since Jeongyeon would come to visit no matter what Jihyo says, she finally gave up on persuading Jeongyeon to stop coming. Besides, she was happy getting visits from her best friend.

The night before the surgery, Jeongyeon received a phone call from Jihyo. She thought that it was odd for Jihyo to call her, especially after they just met earlier this evening.  
“Do you miss me already?” Jeongyeon asked jokingly as soon as she picked up her phone. But the person on the other side didn’t say a single word.

“Jihyo?” worried that something happened to her friend, she called out to her name. Again her friend didn’t say a single word. Faintly Jeongyeon could hear the sounds of sobs from the other side of the phone.

At first she was about to ask why Jihyo was crying but refrained from asking such an insensitive question. Without Jihyo telling her, she could more or less guess why her friend was in such a state. For a couple of minutes, Jeongyeon just listened to her friend sob quietly without saying a single word. Until Jihyo finally managed to utter some words.

“I-I’m scared.” She said, still sobbing.

“I know.” Jeongyeon answered calmly. “I can come if you want me to.”

Even though Jeongyeon couldn’t see her, she could tell her friend was shaking her head.

“Do you want me to accompany you sleep through the phone tonight?”

“Yes.” Jihyo answered in a meekly.

Jihyo wasn’t a weak person. That’s what Jeongyeon thought ever since she first got to know her. As popular as she was at school, she still had lots of hardships due to her popularity. People hate those who reside at the top of the school hierarchy out of envy. And that’s also the reason why some students act irrational and hostile towards students like Jihyo. Despite all that, she was still smiling and kind towards everyone, even to those who hurt her.

To think someone as strong as Jihyo was now crying to her, she felt like her heart was breaking. In truth she was also afraid of losing her friend. After all, it was a 50-50 chance kind of surgery. No matter how many reassurances the doctor gave, they couldn’t hide their worry too over the chances that the surgery might fail. 

Although she was scared, Jeongyeon decided that this wasn’t the time to feel this way. She needed to be there for Jihyo. And so she started talking about various things on the phone to ease her friend’s mind a bit. 

“When you get healthy again, we’ll hang out lots!” Jeongyeon said brightly, imagining the future after the surgery becomes a success.

“Yeah, we can have fun again together.” Jihyo answered hopefully.

Jeongyeon continued to talk on the phone all night, until her friend finally fell fast asleep.

\---

After school, Jeongyeon hurriedly made her way to the hospital. All day, the only thing that was on her mind was Jihyo’s surgery. She texted her a couple of times, but the only message she got today from her was a simple ‘Wish me luck!’ before the surgery began. Many thoughts floated in her mind, especially since she knew that her surgery should have been over hours ago but she quickly brushed them away. 

When she arrived at the hospital, she rushed to Jihyo’s room only to see the room empty. In a panic, she asked Jihyo’s nurse that was coincidentally passing by her room.  
“Excuse me, do you know where Jihyo is? Is everything okay?” 

“Calm down,” the nurse tried to calm the panic Jeongyeon. “She’s been moved to another room after the surgery.” The nurse signaled Jeongyeon to follow her. 

When they arrived, Jeongyeon could see Jihyo sleeping soundly on her bed. It looks like the surgery went well without any complications. Jeongyeon let out a sigh of relief knowing that her friend was okay. Thinking that it might take some time for her to wake up, she left the hospital. 

On her way home, Jeongyeon thought of surprising Jihyo. She felt that it would be nice to repay all her kindness this time around. So she thought hard about what kind of surprise to give her. At first she had no idea what to give her until she remembered something Jihyo said.

“I guess I’ll just do that.” She muttered to herself with a pleased smile.

\---

It was a pleasant Sunday morning where Jeongyeon was busy getting ready to meet up with Jihyo later in the afternoon. It’s been a couple of days since the surgery and she would always visit her friend after school, but she was really excited that her friend was finally getting discharged today. Although she now has her classmates to accompany her eat lunch, she still misses eating lunch with Jihyo. 

Suddenly there was a knock on Jeongyeon’s door. “You can come in.” Jeongyeon said from inside her room, loud enough for the person knocking to hear her.

Her door slightly opened and she could see her mom’s head poke inside her room. Jeongyeon didn’t say anything yet because it was pretty unusual for her mom to come up to her room at this hour.

“What is it mom?” Jeongyeon asked. 

Her mom looked hesitant, but then broke the news. “Jeongyeon, make sure to prepare your belongings. We’re moving tomorrow.” 

“We’re moving already?” Jeongyeon was surprised by the sudden announcement from her mom. “And so soon? Where are we moving?”

It was to be expected that Jeonyeon was surprised. Firstly, it hasn’t even been half a year yet but they are already planning to leave. And secondly, usually she’d be told at least a week before they leave before moving. Being told to pack up so suddenly, Jeongyeon couldn’t accept it. 

Jeongyeon’s mom entered her room and sat on her bed. “We’re going to the US. Dad got a rare offer from his boss, but we’ll have to pack up soon because the flight is tomorrow noon.”

“Can’t I just stay here?” Jeongyeon pleaded. It was the first time she ever asked something like this. Usually she would just agree without making any fuss about it. But this time it was different. It was because now she had Park Jihyo, a dear friend.

Understanding why her daughter was reluctant to move, she looked at her tenderly while holding her hand. “I’m sorry Jeongyeon but we can’t do that.”  
“But… that’s unfair.”

Her mom was at lost for words and couldn’t console her daughter. At the end, there was nothing Jeongyeon nor her mom could do.

\---

“Where are we going Jeongyeon?” Jihyo asked, as the tiny girl followed Jeongyeon from behind. She wasn’t supposed to go anywhere since she just got discharged from the hospital this afternoon, but Jeongyeon insisted to go out with Jihyo tonight and ‘kidnapped’ her. After all, despite the suggestions to not go out after being discharged, Jihyo had already successfully recovered 100% according to her doctor, so there shouldn’t be a problem. 

“You’ll know when we get there.” Jeongyeon looked back at Jihyo with a cheeky smile on her face. 

When they finally arrived at their destination, Jihyo looked at Jeongyeon is confusion. “The school? Why are we going to school at this hour?”

Not paying attention to what her friend was saying, she pulled out a ladder she prepared beforehand from the bushes in front of the school. Without any difficulty, she placed it on the school wall and confidently asked Jihyo to climb over.

Being the honor student she was, Jihyo was worried. “Are you sure it’s okay to get in?”

“Trust me.” Those were the only things Jeongyeon said as she offered her hand to Jihyo. Looking at the hand extended to her, she finally took it.  
“You’re crazy Jeongyeon.”

“I guess I am.”

Both of them giggled as they made their way inside the school after climbing the ladder. Jihyo was still clueless about why Jeongyeon brought her to school this late at night. But she still followed her without asking any more questions. 

Jihyo’s eyes widened as soon as they arrived at the place Jeongyeon wanted to bring her. In front of her was the sight of different colored primroses; white, yellow, pink, and red, showered by the school lights. It was as if they were sparkling through the dark night. 

“Jeongyeon…” 

“I was bored without you, so I planted a couple of flowers.”

It was an understatement to say that she planted just a ‘couple of flowers’. The empty garden that was once abandoned looked lively once again thanks to Jeongyeon’s effort in planting flowers in the garden. Although it was a bit difficult moving the flowers from the plant shop to the garden, she was satisfied with the results. It was all to surprise her friend, Jihyo.

“It’s beautiful.” Jihyo said in admiration. “But couldn’t you have shown me tomorrow?”

“Jihyo..” Jeongyeon looked at her in the eyes. From her strange demeanor, Jihyo noticed that something was off. Forcing herself to continue her sentence, Jeongyeon finally let out the words she needed to say. “I’m leaving for the US tomorrow.”

She was supposed to surprise her when she came back to school, but since she was short on time, there was no other choice but to show her now.

Time felt like it froze for Jihyo. Even though she thought that they’d finally be able to spend more time together after surviving her surgery, at the end they still couldn’t. No matter how hard she struggled, if fate wouldn’t allow it, there was nothing she could do. Silently her tears started rolling off her cheeks.

Seeing her cry, she took a step closer to Jihyo and embraced Jihyo in her arms. Hugging her tightly, she continuously apologized. “I’m sorry Jihyo. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” This time, Jeongyeon was also crying. She couldn’t hold her emotions in anymore. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay. But there was nothing she could do about it. And that was what made her even more frustrated. There was nothing she could do, no matter how much she wanted to stay with Jihyo.

Jihyo shook her head. “It’s not your fault Jeongyeon.” She held her even tighter. Both of them held on to each other for a while, until their hugs loosened and they finally looked at each other.

“Promise me we’ll see each other again one day. Okay?” 

“I promise.” Jeongyeon answered with a smile on her face.

Accompanied by the sound of crickets and the chilly night brushing their skin, they promised to one day meet again. Every single primrose Jeongyeon planted in the garden became the witness to their promise they made that night. 

***

Jeongyeon carefully stepped outside of the airplane. After hours of flying, she finally arrived at her destination. Dragging her suitcase along with her, she entered the customs to have her documents checked before she proceeded to the exit. As she walked through the arrival gate, she could see a lot of people lining up, probably waiting for their loved ones to appear from the gate.

Navigating through the crowd, she scanned her surroundings, seeming to look for someone. She whipped out her phone and started texting someone, but the person she texted didn’t respond. Starting to feel a bit anxious, she started dialing the other person’s number. Before her call could connect, someone called out her name.

“Jeongyeon!”

She put down her phone from her right ear and turned her body to the source of voice. As she turned around, she could see a tiny girl waving her hand high, jumping as if her soles had springs, with a beaming smile on her face. 

With a huge smile on her face, she waved back. 

“Jihyo!”

–– End.


End file.
